Tigers running back Dionte Rodgers fights for yardage as Naperville North linebacker Andrew Reinhard attempts to wrestle him down, leaving a pile of linemen in their wake.

Tigers running back Dionte Rodgers fights for yardage as Naperville North linebacker Andrew Reinhard attempts to wrestle him down, leaving a pile of linemen in their wake.

Image 2 of 3

Edwardsville quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman scans the Naperville North defense has he decides whether to hand the ball off to running back Norman Harris on an option read Saturday.

Edwardsville quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman scans the Naperville North defense has he decides whether to hand the ball off to running back Norman Harris on an option read Saturday.

Image 3 of 3

‘HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME’: Tigers look to regroup after blowing 42-point lead in loss

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

EDWARDSVILLE — With dejected faces of Edwardsville Tigers football players slumped and dragging along the Field Turf surface of the District 7 Sports Complex in utter shock, it was up to coach Matt Martin to try and explain what had just transpired Saturday over the course of three hours.

It had to be one of Martin’s more profound postgame speeches simply to keep his players from mentally falling apart after a shocking 53-49 season-opening loss Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex against Naperville North.

One that didn’t see a second of two top-tiered heavyweights may look at that score and think it was a back-and-forth thriller.

The thriller part was there, although nobody could see that after the start the Tigers got off to. The back-and-forth part? Well, that would have been hard to believe after Edwardsville got off to a 42-0 lead.

Yes, 42-0.

It was the kind of fight early on that if a boxing referee was involved, the fight would have been stopped in the first round.

Edwardsville led 28-0 and was imposing its will on the Huskies, both offensively and defensively.

The end result was quite shocking for the home side.

“What we always say, it’s about how you play the game,” Martin said with conviction postgame. “I know it sounds like coach-speak, but it’s how you play the game and it’s regardless of the score, we always talk to the kids whether you’re down, whether you’re up by a lot, we coach them hard. It’s about playing the game with the right effort, the right execution.

“We’ve gone in on film on a Saturday winning by 35 points and we’re upset as a staff. I’m sure we’re going to see some mistakes we need to work on and get it corrected, and if the kids buy in, we’ll get better, and if they don’t want to get better, then we won’t. That’s the bottom line.”

But the game changed on one long 80-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman with 57.5 seconds remaining in the first quarter that cemented an impressive 28-0 first-quarter lead.

Rahman, who rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries, was not to be seen again, done in my what Martin called “full body cramps.” Junior tailback Dionte Rodgers, who led the Tigers with 165 yards and one score on 23 carries, also sustained led cramps and missed large chunks of the game, and Huskies coach Sean Drendel admitted afterwards that if Abdur-Rahman didn’t leave because of injury, “I don’t know if we stop them all day.”

That was certainly the case, at least in the first quarter.

“I think everybody knows, right? When Dionte and Kendall are in there, we’re a different ballclub,” Martin said. “I’m not taking anything away from them, but ask their coach. He’s a class act. He’s a good guy. I have no ill feelings. They played hard, there’s not a lot of cheap shots. Our kids played hard.”

The Tigers had the chance to seal a running clock deal when they set up shop at the with first-and-10 at the Huskies 19. But backup quarterback Nick Hemken and running back Norman Harris fumbled a shotgun snap, which was scooped up by the Huskies’ Bo Richter. It gave the Huskies some life, and they scored with 3 minutes, 3 seconds left in the half, and scored again.

Just like that, it was 42-14, which doesn’t seem like much other than making a score a little more respectable, but what it did was buy Naperville North more time instead of a formality of a running clock in the second half.

And that’s what Drendel told his kids after a dreadful first quarter, especially.

“Just that we’ve got to tackle,” Drendel said of his message. “Blocking and tackling, that’s what it’s about and holding onto the football. We turned it over four times in the first quarter (actually, two) and it’s tough to win games when you do that.”

And even after Edwardsville thought it seized control again following Antonio Thigpen Jr’s second rushing touchdown, a 2-yard run, to make it 49-14, that’s when the Huskies took off.

In the end, quarterback Drake Davis’ 1-yard plunge with 21.5 seconds left gave the Huskies their only lead, one that was enough for the win.

“At first, most people are just OK with scoring a couple touchdowns here and there, but we like to win,” Davis said. “That was amazing. We kept moving forward, play-by-play, drive-by-drive.”

And the Huskies made the triumphant four-hour bus ride home, while the Tigers will try to find answers before the second of a trio of gauntlet games, getting ready for Missouri juggernaut CBC in Week 2.

“This is a tough game played by tough people,” Martin said. “You’ve got to be able to be in there; you’ve got to be able to fight through the discomfort. That’s part of the game.”